Harnessing the plasticity of CD4+ T cells to treat immune-mediated disease
- 15 February 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Reviews Immunology
- Vol. 16 (3), 149-163
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2015.18
Abstract
CD4(+) T cells differentiate and acquire distinct functions to combat specific pathogens but can also adapt their functions in response to changing circumstances. Although this phenotypic plasticity can be potentially deleterious, driving immune pathology, it also provides important benefits that have led to its evolutionary preservation. Here, we review CD4(+) T cell plasticity by examining the molecular mechanisms that regulate it - from the extracellular cues that initiate and drive cells towards varying phenotypes, to the cytosolic signalling cascades that decipher these cues and transmit them into the cell and to the nucleus, where these signals imprint specific gene expression programmes. By understanding how this functional flexibility is achieved, we may open doors to new therapeutic approaches that harness this property of T cells.Keywords
This publication has 203 references indexed in Scilit:
- Single Naive CD4+ T Cells from a Diverse Repertoire Produce Different Effector Cell Types during InfectionCell, 2013
- The NeST Long ncRNA Controls Microbial Susceptibility and Epigenetic Activation of the Interferon-γ LocusCell, 2013
- AMPK Is a Negative Regulator of the Warburg Effect and Suppresses Tumor Growth In VivoCell Metabolism, 2013
- Foxp3 Exploits a Pre-Existent Enhancer Landscape for Regulatory T Cell Lineage SpecificationCell, 2012
- Functional and Epigenetic Studies Reveal Multistep Differentiation and Plasticity of In Vitro-Generated and In Vivo-Derived Follicular T Helper CellsImmunity, 2011
- Control of TH17/Treg Balance by Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1Cell, 2011
- Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Protein Complex 2 Regulates Differentiation of Th1 and Th2 Cell Subsets via Distinct Signaling PathwaysImmunity, 2010
- Decrease of Foxp3+ Treg Cell Number and Acquisition of Effector Cell Phenotype during Lethal InfectionImmunity, 2009
- Genome-wide Mapping of HATs and HDACs Reveals Distinct Functions in Active and Inactive GenesCell, 2009
- Dynamic Regulation of Nucleosome Positioning in the Human GenomeCell, 2008